


Five Times Loki Could Have Been A Villain

by Kadorienne



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Loki Wins, Gen, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki wasn’t the bad guy in The Avengers, Villainverse, Warning: Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-09 19:56:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadorienne/pseuds/Kadorienne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five AUs where Loki is not a mere antagonist, but an actual villain.</p><p>He would have acted very differently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pre-Thor

**Author's Note:**

> Literarily speaking, Loki isn't so much a villain as a tragic hero. (See [here](http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/santorar/engl190v/trag.hero.htm) and [here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TragicHero).) 
> 
> There's so many AUs where Tony Stark or Captain America (or heroes from other fandoms) is a villain, I thought Loki should get a villain AU.
> 
> Thank you to krinard for betaing!

When the king and queen joined the feast, all stood and bowed until they were seated beside their sons. The first words Odin spoke as he accepted a goblet of mead were to Loki. “I am told you enchanted the Dwarven ambassador’s beard into the shape of flapping wings.”

Loki and Thor both dissolved into snickers. Odin sighed and Frigga pursed her lips. “Loki, you are nearly four hundred years old. You are much too old to be behaving this way.”

“But Mother, you should have seen his face.” Thor threw back his head and laughed without restraint.

“It took me weeks to work out the spell.” Loki’s eyes were alight with mischief and his voice was proud.

“Very clever, Loki,” Odin said without smiling. “Now you may apply that same cleverness to convincing him to agree to the terms of the treaty which he had accepted until you offended him with your prank.”

“Of course, Father.” Loki tried and failed to look abashed.

“You may start tomorrow morning. You will spend each day playing host to the ambassador until you have mended what you have done.”

This wiped the smirk from Loki’s face. “Tomorrow? But Father, tomorrow is the day we are going to Nornheim!”

“Thor and his comrades are going to Nornheim. You have other work to do.”

Thor laughed even harder. Loki glanced at him with distress. “I can’t let my brother march into battle without me!”

“I think I can manage without _you_ , Loki.” Thor grinned, all confidence. For a fleeting second, Loki’s face froze, but at once he was looking at their father again, wheedling. 

“Please, Father, we will only be in Nornheim for a few days, there will be time to placate the ambassador after that.”

Odin took a meditative sip of mead. “Well….”

“And what does the treaty with Nidavellir matter, anyhow?” A bit of petulance found its way into Loki’s voice. “It isn’t as if we depend upon a pack of dwarfs.”

That made Odin scowl. “Enough. You will stay here, Loki.”

Loki dipped his head, reluctantly acceding. Thor was still grinning. “I’ll kill an extra hundred warriors for you, little brother.”

“You are too kind, brother.”

 

The mourning for Asgard’s fallen prince and his shield-brothers went on for a full fortnight. The royal family was distraught, though it was noted that the younger prince mastered his grief just enough to oversee the arrangements and graciously accept the condolences of ambassadors on the crown’s behalf. Often Loki would break down in the midst of such conversations and excuse himself, returning half an hour later with reddened eyes and a determined demeanour. Both the depth of his grief for his brother and his fortitude through it, granting his bereaved parents a strong shoulder to lean upon, earned him much respect from the court.

The battle on Nornheim had amounted to an ambush. Thor and his band had been badly outnumbered, twenty to one. Even had Loki been there, one more sword would have added little. A few of the court’s sorceresses reflected that Loki’s skill with illusions might perhaps have enabled the others to escape, if only Loki had been there, but none added to the royal family’s grief by saying so.

On the final night of the banquets held in the elder prince’s memory, some of the courtiers noted the way their king was regarding his queen and nodded knowingly. It was only natural that Odin would try to replace the son he had lost. He still had an heir left, but best for a king to have more than one. 

And perhaps Prince Loki’s grief would also be assuaged when he had the companionship of a new brother.


	2. Thor: Take One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One way that the first _Thor_ movie could've gone differently.

Loki had always been intensely loyal. He strove to serve his realm, little use as it had for a bookish sorcerer as its prince. He would have done anything for his family, regardless of how clear it was that his mother was the only one who valued him. He saved the lives of his friends countless times, even though he knew they were really Thor’s friends and tolerated him only because he was Thor’s brother. 

There was nothing he would not do for his realm. Nothing he would not do for his family.

When Thor was banished and Odin had to Sleep, the queen ordered that Loki be made king of Asgard. With the fresh knowledge of his origins tearing at his heart, Loki travelled to Jotunheim to speak with its king.

The following night, when most of Asgard was either asleep or drunk, Loki took the Casket of Ancient Winters from the weapons vault to the Observatory, where he used it to freeze Heimdall. Then he opened the Bifrost and admitted Laufey and the entire Jotun army. They promptly overran Asgard, easily overcoming its unprepared warriors and freezing its buildings with the Casket’s power. 

By dawn, Asgard was covered in ice and most of its citizens dead. Queen Frigga was unharmed, as a favor to her adopted son, but under house arrest in her chambers, guarded without by four Jotnar with icy blades at the ready. Volstagg and Hogun had both been cut down by frost giants thirsty for their vengeance. Sif and Fandral lived, sealed in Asgard’s dungeon, hostages against Thor’s good behavior should the prince return.

Laufey claimed for himself the privilege of slaying Odin as he slept. Loki watched him do it, the ruby eyes of his new form steady. Then together he and Laufey watched the sun rise on Jotunheim’s new domain. An enormous cold blue hand rested on Loki’s slim shoulder.

“You have done well, my son,” Laufey said.

“Thank you, Father.”

Loki was still loyal to his family and his realm.


	3. Thor: Take Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another way the first _Thor_ movie could have gone differently.

Loki had never expected to hold Gungnir. Now he grasped the fabled spear in trembling hands as his mother spoke.

“Until Odin awakens, Asgard is yours.”

Loki’s mind raced. He would have to move fast.

The first step was to get Thor out of the way. Loki watched impatiently from Hlidskjalf until the oaf found out where Mjölnir was and tried to lift it.

When the hammer remained immovable and Thor screamed out his anguish, Loki, sitting on the throne of Asgard, smirked.

After that Loki had only to travel to Midgard, careful to shield himself from Heimdall’s sight once he was near Thor. He could have been merciful and brief, perhaps crept up behind Thor and snapped his neck without warning. But he had a thousand years of grudges to settle. He drew it out. With Thor robbed of his powers by his doting father, it was an easy feat for Loki to beat him to a pulp with his bare fists.

Thor’s bewilderment was the most entertaining part. He kept asking _why._ Loki did not trouble to answer, just relished the warmth of Thor’s blood on his cool fists, the sound of Thor’s bones breaking under Loki’s blows.

Loki allowed himself a moment to gloat over his baffled foster brother’s mangled form before leaning down to crush the oaf’s windpipe and watch the breath leave his body.

As a further precaution, he sent Thor’s brainless friends to Vanaheim to kill whoever happened to need killing there. Vanaheim had always been restless under Asgardian rule and likely saw the Odinsleep as an opportunity to make a bid for freedom anyhow. Far away, Sif and the Warriors Three would doubtless work themselves up to treason, but by the time they returned to Asgard Loki’s position would be secure. That was, if the Vanir didn’t kill them without Thor’s hammer and Loki’s magic to protect them from their own overconfidence.

After Loki’s expedition to strike his deal with Laufey, Heimdall grew suspicious. Loki availed himself of the kingly privilege of using the relics in the weapons vault and, with the Casket of Ancient Winters, turned Heimdall into a statue of ice. Once Heimdall was frozen in mid-regicide, Loki used Gungnir to shatter the Gatekeeper into a thousand pieces.

At last came the final, most vital part of Loki’s plan. Laufey had believed Loki’s false offer. Loki brought him and two soldiers, cold blue creatures nearly twice Loki’s height, into Asgard via the Bifrost. No need to worry now about Heimdall seeing Loki’s schemes. Loki led the Jotuns to Odin’s chamber, donned his horned helm, and waited with Gungnir at the ready.

“It’s said that you can still see and hear what transpires around you.” Laufey’s voice was a gravelly whisper as he bent over Odin’s helpless form. “I hope it’s true, so that you may know: your death came at the hand of Laufey.”

With these words, Laufey conjured a blade of ice, raised his hand, and plunged the blade into Odin’s heart.

Laufey watched Odin die with a smile upon his cragged blue face.

When Odin’s heart ceased, a blast of power flung Laufey across the room.

“And your death came from the son of Odin,” Loki said, his voice clear and carrying so that his mother and any nearby guards would hear those carefully planned words. 

Another blast from Gungnir blew Laufey into nothingness. Then Loki turned to his foster mother, who flung her arms around him.

“I wasn’t in time to save him,” he whispered into her hair. “I am so sorry, Mother. I failed you both.”

She moved back, shaking her head tearfully, placing a gentle hand on his cheek. “No, you didn’t, Loki. You were not to blame. I know you would have saved him if you could.”

His arms tightened around her. “I swear to you, Mother, that they will pay for what they have done today.”

Avenging Odin’s death by personally slaying Laufey and then unleashing the Bifrost on Jotunheim, destroying Asgard’s most feared and hated foe once and for all, was an auspicious beginning for the reign of a new king. In their admiration for these exploits, the Aesir swiftly forgot that they had expected the throne to pass to the elder prince - the oaf had gotten himself killed on Midgard, just showing how unworthy he had been all along - and happily rendered their fealty and acclaim to King Loki.


	4. Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've long subscribed to the "Xanatos Gambit" theory, detailed [here](http://xparrot.tumblr.com/post/26385954943/assembling-avengers-and-yet-another-of-lokis-master) and [here](http://maskofreason.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/very-good-writing-why-loki-won-in-the-avengers/). In brief, this theory states that Loki deliberately sabotaged his own invasion of Earth to defeat Thanos, who had captured and tortured him.
> 
> I don't subscribe to this theory because it makes Loki a hero, although that's a fringe benefit. I subscribe to it because otherwise, nothing in this movie makes any sense whatsoever. In particular, the plan is way too stupid for someone like Loki to have thought it could possibly work.
> 
> Here is an example of how the invasion might have gone if Loki had actually wanted to rule Earth.

The scientists’ vaguely ominous warnings had Fury primed for a situation. So when the Tesseract unleashed an impromptu light show, he dove for cover instantly. Once the pyrotechnics subsisted, he and the other operatives approached the form that had materialized cautiously, weapons at the ready.

The being the cube had spat out proved to be a bedraggled man in leather, his hair lank, his skin pasty under a sickly sheen of sweat, dark circles under his eyes. And the expression in those eyes was one Fury had seen more times than he cared to remember, on the faces of agents retrieved from the lower circles of Hell. 

In this case, that just might be literal.

The man crouched, looking around as if expecting to be attacked. Fury stepped forward. “Sir, identify yourself,” he ordered. The stranger’s frantic eyes fixed upon him.

“Is this Midgard?” he croaked.

“This is Earth. And you are?”

The stranger’s shoulders slumped. “Thank the Norns.” He drew a ragged breath. “I am Loki of Asgard. I escaped to warn your world.”

Fury mentally reviewed all the intel SHIELD had collected about Thor, also allegedly of Asgard, a year before while Loki was given preliminary medical care (saline solution in an IV, a vitamin shake, and a rudimentary physical exam). Except for gulping down the shake as if he were starving, which the poor guy probably was, Loki ignored the corpsman attending to him in favor of frantically gasping out his message to Fury. Something about a guy named Thanos who was basically Darth Vader and wanted to kill half the human race.

Fury wasn’t about to be alone with Loki even if he did seem to be on Earth’s side. At least two armed agents were with them at all times. But after maybe an hour of badly needed intravenous fluids and rest, Loki lifted a hand and the agents slumped over, unconscious. A spear with a glowing blue gem appeared in Loki’s hands and he pressed the tip to Fury’s heart.

After that, Fury understood _everything._

“This room’s under surveillance,” Fury reported as his new commander lowered the spear. “They’ll know what just happened.”

“I know about Midgardian surveillance. I am casting an illusion for the cameras. Just as I am shielding myself from the sight of Asgard.” Loki touched each of the operatives with the spear before reviving them.

Then he turned to Fury and told him what he wanted. And Fury gave it to him.

Fury relayed Loki’s instructions to Selvig and the other scientists. They opened the portal over Washington, D.C. that very day. The Chitauri streamed in and in a matter of minutes most of the U.S. government was dead. Iron Man joined the party uninvited and Loki’s magical spear blew his suit and then the man inside to bits in full view of news cameras, properly impressing the world.

After a few more attacks on capitals - London and Beijing, to begin with - the nations of the world began to surrender without waiting to be asked. Loki’s clemency to those who yielded and his ruthlessness to those who resisted made the choice an easy one for most. The Chitauri brutally stomped out pockets of resistance. Captain America was at the head of one revolt, and Loki took the opportunity to defeat him in single combat as the world watched. Asgardians were considerably stronger than humans, even enhanced supersoldiers, and Loki had a millennium more fighting experience than Steve Rogers. Rogers could only have held his own against him if Loki had been, for whatever reason, holding himself back and allowing the human to win. Loki toyed with the soldier for a time, humiliating the mortal who had thought he could battle an Asgardian warrior, before snapping the man’s neck with insulting ease.

Some covert government agencies tried to find Bruce Banner, thinking that he might be the one man who could take down Loki of Asgard. They might have been right, but Loki had learned of the Hulk’s existence from Fury and taken the precaution of sending him into the Void with the aid of the Tesseract before bringing in the Chitauri.

Loki took the precaution of never being away from his enthralled army or from the cube. Consequently, when Odin realized what was occurring on Midgard and sent Thor to attempt to retrieve the relic, Loki was able to fend off his foster brother’s attacks without undue difficulty. His magic spear, harnessing the Tesseract’s power, was a match even for Mjölnir. In the aftermath of their duel, Loki used the cube to send an exhausted Thor back to Asgard. Mjölnir was left behind in the center of Loki’s throne room.

Odin came to Earth himself next, to open diplomatic relations with the new king of Midgard. In return for a military alliance and Asgardian recognition of the legitimacy of his rule, Loki offered to use the Tesseract to rebuild the Bifrost. When he and his foster father were able to talk privately, both shielding themselves from magically prying eyes with their combined sorcery, Loki told Odin of Thanos’s long term plans for the Nine Realms. Together they forged a confidential strategy to foil those plans.

As they spoke, Odin kept looking at his adopted son as if he had never seen the lad before. Conquering an entire realm with no aid from his father and plotting to double-cross his new patron was certainly more than Odin had ever expected of either of his boys. 

“Loki, I am very glad you survived the Void,” Odin said before collecting Mjölnir and returning to Asgard. “I am so proud of you, my son.”


	5. The Dark World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In TDW Thor behaved like such a jerk that I stopped hoping for reconciliation between the brothers and started wishing something like this could happen.

Loki dispatched the last of the Dark Elf foot soldiers and turned to Thor. Who was being beaten to a pulp by Kurse.

Loki stood back and watched. It was the most fun he’d had since Manhattan.

Loki glanced at the mortal, Thor’s mistress, who was watching the fight with wide worried eyes. Inspiration struck. 

With a flick of his hand, he cast an illusion for the woman’s benefit. While Kurse finished killing Thor and then Loki killed Kurse with a thrown blade with a black hole grenade in its hilt, the woman watched an illusory Loki coming to his estranged brother’s rescue. Watched as an illusory Kurse turned and killed Loki before falling. Watched Thor weeping frantically - ha! - over his not-brother’s last labored breaths. Heard their touching last words.

Loki snickered as he cast the glamour. As if Thor would be that sorry to be rid of him. As if Thor would ever praise Loki’s deeds in their father’s hearing. But the woman was suitably moved.

After dispatching Kurse, Loki swiftly bent over Thor’s lifeless body. He made the glamour settle over him and over Thor’s body, so that the woman saw each brother as the other. He protested, using Thor’s voice, as the woman urged him away from the corpse. He could have killed her, but he thought a witness might be useful. Still magically impersonating Thor, he helped her foil the Svartálfar. 

No one, he noticed, questioned his leaving his brother’s body behind.

The next step was trickier. Deceiving a sorcerer of Odin’s power was no mean feat. But at long last luck was on his side. Age and trouble had made Odin weak. Loki dropped his illusion - he wanted Odin to know by whose hand he died. With the full force of his magic he held the old man immobile. The realization and fear dawning on the tyrant’s face was sweet to Loki. For a last bit of poetic justice, rather than kill Odin with a dagger of Asgardian make, Loki used his Jotun ability to conjure a blade of ice. And slit his not-father’s throat with it.

There was no one left who could oppose him. He conjured an illusory Odin to pass Gungnir to “Thor” - Loki in disguise, of course - and then the false Odin shut himself up to enter the Odinsleep, and later to "die". This was child’s play with no sorcerers of Loki’s caliber left to see through the spell. 

Nor was it long before an opportunity presented itself to send Thor’s brainless friends on a suicide mission. Not that he told them that was what it was. And the fools trusted the man they believed to be Thor despite having known Thor for centuries. It was a miracle they had lived this long.

Changing his form permanently into Thor’s took some work, but was no more impossible than transforming a baby frost giant into a baby Asgardian. Altering his coloring from pale and raven-haired to tanned and blond, from moon to sun, was the easiest part. The process was quite painful, reshaping his whipcord form into a ridiculous mass of bulging muscles, altering the shape of his face, growing accustomed to the constant tickling of his yellow beard. Loki had never grown a beard, had been the only man of Asgard’s nobility not to have one. Odin had neglected that detail when creating Loki’s Asgardian form, uncaring of the taunts Loki had to endure for it in early manhood, indifferent to those of his subjects Loki had to kill in holmgang over those taunts to avoid dishonor.

But when the spell and the pain were done, Loki wore Thor’s body through the halls of Valaskjálf. People looked at him differently, women with lust and men with awe, everyone with affection. 

It felt as good as he had always expected it to.

Loki made an effort to pretend to be cheerful and empty-headed like his foster brother. This was the only part of the charade that was beyond him, but everyone believed that grief and responsibility had sobered and matured Thor. “King Thor” set about cementing Asgard’s power over the Nine Realms. With the might of Asgard behind his innate guile, Loki was unstoppable. 

The reign of “Thor” was long and triumphant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The inimitable plumadesatada wrote a delightful [commentfic](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/5956107)!


End file.
